Exodus Chapter 1 Star Chart: Clockwise from when "the (Gemini) children of Israel ... (red radius path) came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob" (1:1) when he was 130 years old in 1661 B.C. (Gen. 47:28), at the 215-year half-way mark (Ex. 12:40-41), when Joseph was the minister of Apophis, the last Hyksos king till "there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph" (1:8) named Amosis (Centaur) who married an Ethiopian (black Virgo) princess, and in the third year of his reign captured Avaris, or Zoan, the capital of the Hyksos, and expelled the Hyksos from Egypt about 1567 B.C. is 94° years. Notice that "the (Gemini) children of Israel were fruitful (solar pregnant), and increased abundantly (lunar baby in basket), and multiplied (Coma son and daughter), and waxed exceeding mighty (Centaur); and the land was filled with them" (Zodiac constellations) (Ex. 1:7). |
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Pharaoh Amosis Captured the Capital of Avaris (Zoan), Expelled the Hyksos & Afflicted Israel
1:1 Now these are the names of the (Gemini) children of Israel, which came into Egypt; every man and his household came with Jacob.
2 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah,
3 Issachar, Zebulun, and Benjamin,
4 Dan, and Naphtali, Gad, and Asher.
5 And all the souls that came out of the loins of Jacob were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
6 And Joseph died, and all his (Gemini) brethren, and all that generation.
7 And the (Gemini) children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them.
Aristotle says, "One woman in Egypt brought forth in four births, twenty children; for she had five at a time, and the greater part of them were reared" (Hist. Anim. 7:4). It was the most fruitful district of the most fertile part of the world; even the women, according to Aristotle, having sometimes three, four, and even five children at a birth (Hist. Anim, 1:7) Pliny says, "When a greater number of children than three is produced at one birth, it is regarded as portentous except indeed in Egypt, where the water of the Nile is used for drink as a promoter of fecundity." (NH 7:3)
8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt (Centaur), which knew not Joseph.
9 And he said unto his (Gemini) people, Behold, the people of the (Gemini) children of Israel are more and mightier than we:
10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our (Gemini) enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land.
11 Therefore they did set over them (Big Dog) taskmasters to afflict them with their (solar and lunar) burdens. And they built for Pharaoh (gold and silver) treasure cities, (solar) Pithom and (lunar) Raamses.
The name Pithom has been identified with the Pachtoum en Zalou ("Treasure city or fortress of Thom) built by foreign captives")
This name occurs in the annals of Pharaoh Thothmes III, grandson of the "king who knew not Joseph" (see Brugsch, Geograph. Inscrip. 3:21); as also two centuries later in the sixth Tableau of the grand hall in the Temple of Ammon at Karnac of the time of Pharaoh Seti I.; and there can be little doubt but that it refers to the treasure city built by the captive Israelites. Concerning the other name Raamses (Heb. RHMSS), we find a name on the Egyptian monuments exactly like it at this period of history. The name of one of the sons of the "king which knew not Joseph", Pharaoh Amosis, reads Ra-MSS, whereas the Pharaohs of the House of Ramesses, who reigned two centuries later, have commonly the final u at the end of their names; so that the exact way of rendering that name in English would be rather Ramessu than Raamses or Ramesses.
12 But the more they (red radius rod) afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the (Gemini) children of Israel.
13 And the Egyptians made the (Gemini) children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in (lunar) morter, and in (solar and lunar) brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
15 And the (Centaur) king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew (Virgo and Coma) midwives, of which the name of the one was (Virgo) Shiphrah, and the name of the other (Coma) Puah:
16 And he (red radius) said, When ye do the office of a (Coma) midwife to the Hebrew (Virgo and Coma) women, and see them upon the (Coma) stools; if it be a son, then ye shall (red radius) kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.
17 But the (Virgo and Coma) midwives feared God, and did not as the (Centaur) king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the (Gemini) men children alive.
18 And the (Centaur) king of Egypt (red radius) called for the (Virgo and Coma) midwives, and said unto them, Why have ye done this thing, and have saved the (Gemini) men children alive?
19 And the midwives said unto Pharaoh, Because the Hebrew (Virgo and Coma) women are not as the Egyptian women; for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them.
20 Therefore God dealt well with the midwives: and the people multiplied, and waxed very mighty.
21 And it came to pass, because the midwives feared God, that he (Pharaoh) made them (red radius) houses.
The Egyptians lived at Zoan and the Israelites lived in the land of Goshen, which was about six miles away from Zoan, where Pharaoh kept his court. Therefore, Israelite women were "delivered before the (Egyptian) midwives came" to them (1:19). To remedy this problem, Pharaoh made them houses, that they might have no more excuses of that kind. Pharaoh ordered the two cities of Pithom and Rameses to be built so that the Hebrew women might be nearer one another and nearer the midwives, who had houses built for them in these two cities. These were not "treasure cities" (1:11) but "cities of tabernacles" (vulgar Latin) or "walled cities" (Septuagint) or "grainaries" (Syriac and Arabic versions).
22 And Pharaoh charged all his (Gemini) people, saying, Every son that is born ye shall cast into the (Milky Way) river, and every daughter ye shall save alive.
Where Are The Hyksos Mentioned In The Bible?
Where Are The Hyksos Mentioned In The Bible?
A few centuries before the Israelites went down to Egypt, an Asiatic people, the HYKSOS, ("foreign rulers" or "shepherd kings" -- Against Apion 1:14) took advantage of the unsettled political condition in Egypt, and seized the throne. Psalm 78:49 mentions this invasion of "king-shepherds" or "mishlakhat malkhei-roim" against Egypt but the text has been corrupted to read "evil angels" or "mishlakhat malakhei-roim" instead. This is contrary to proper Hebrew grammar. If "evil angels" were the correct reading, then the Hebrew should be "malakhim raoth." They were Arabians (Against Apion 1:52). Specifically Edomite Amalekites (pp. 64-65, Ages in Chaos). Their king Agag (Nu. 24:7) was known as Apop (Manetho). In the history of Egypt the most frequently mentioned name of the Hyksos kings is APOP [APOPI]. One of the FIRST and most prominent of the Hyksos rulers was APOP; The LAST king of the Hyksos was also APOP. There were in fact three Hyksos kings with the name Apophis. Two from Dynasty XV and one from Dynasty XVII -- all confirmed by archaeology. The early Hebrew written signs as they are preserved on the STELE OF MESHA show a STRIKING RESEMBLANCE between the letters g (gimel) and p (pei). No other two letters are SO MUCH ALIKE in shape as these: each is an oblique line connected to a shorter, more oblique line, and is similar to the written number 7; the SIZE OF THE ANGLE between the two oblique lines constitutes the ONLY difference.... Agog I appears to be Apop I, and Agog II, Apop II. King Agog reigned at the BEGINNING of the period [of the Hyksos rule]; according to Manetho, Apop was the fourth king of the Hyksos Dynasty and ruled for sixty-one years. AGOG II reigned at the very end of the period, some four hundred years later. (Ages in Chaos, p. 72).
The first king was called Salitis or "Sultan." (They settled in the northern Delta region of Egypt, making their capitol at Avaris.) They were somewhat akin to the Israelites and the HYKSOS Pharaoh treated Israelites kindly as long as he reigned. This is why Joseph coached his brethren before they were introduced to Pharaoh. Joseph told them to profess to be shepherds "For every shepherd is an abomination unto the Egyptians" (Gen. 46:34). Why? "That ye may dwell in the land of Goshen" where Pharaoh dwells, a land of cattle and sheep, "the best of the land" (47:6). Therefore there would be no objection from the Egyptians. Pharaoh also had cattle (47:6). Thus we know that the Pharaoh who was in Egypt was not an Egyptian but an Asiatic HYKSOS, a king who did not favor the Egyptians. To any native king, a shepherd would be an abomination, but not to the HYKSOS, for they, too, were shepherds. As late as the days of King Saul, the Egyptians were still partly subject to these Edomite Amalekites. "And they found an Egyptian in the field ... And David said unto him, To whom belongest thou? and whence art thou? And he said, I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an AMALEKITE; and my master left me, because three days ago I fell sick." After the Exodus, while Moses was still alive, Balaam spoke of Amalek as "the first of nations: but his latter end shall be that he perish forever" (Num. 24:20). Not first in time, but first in rank. They arrived late with Esau, but Dominated the Delta of Egypt as pharaohs and so were first in rank.
During part of Israel's stay in Egypt she was favored with the choicest land called Goshen for pasturing flocks and herds and Joseph was put upon the throne as prime minister. When the famine increased, there is no indication the Israelites were forced to mortgage their lands, sell their flocks or sell themselves as slaves. They were favored in Egypt. But the tables were turned and Israel became oppressed. How? Exodus 1:8 says, "There arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph." He was a native Egyptian, the founder of the eighteenth dynasty who expelled the HYKSOS. His name was Amosis I (c. 1570-1545) who stormed Tanis (Zoan) and destroyed the last Semitic garrisons in Egypt about 1550 B.C. including Avaris. This native Egyptian feared lest the Israelites might multiply and some day do as the HYKSOS did and seize the throne. This accounts for their enslavement and persecution. The HYKSOS included Hebrews (Apiru) and Arameans (Amurru) and others -- a "mixed multitude." Manetho recorded that these HYKSOS later went to JUDEA and built JERUSALEM after leaving Egypt (Josephus, Against Apion 1:14). Ezekiel 16:3 says that Jerusalem was built by "an Amorite , and ... an Hittite." Therefore we know the HYKSOS included Amorites and Hittites as well as Hebrews and Arameans.
The powerful 18th Dynasty was founded by Amenhotep I (1546–1525 B.C.), who came to power after the Hyksos campaign. Remaining Semites who stayed behind after the Hyksos were driven out were treated brutally by the next several kings (Thutmose I and Thutmose II), culminating in Thutmose III, who “…made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in mortar, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field…” (Exodus 1:14). Thutmose III was known as “the Napoleon of Egypt”, and who set about conquering large swaths of territory once occupied by the Hyksos and their allies. He was also a great builder who used many slaves in his building projects; the population of slaves included large numbers of Semites, who were hated by Thutmose as a result of the Hyksos period. Archaeologist and historian W.F. Albright confirmed that the Hyksos invasion of Egypt was led by a Semitic people, not Hurrians or Indo-Aryans as some scholars contend; the fact that the remaining population was Semitic help fuel the hatred that many Egyptians felt for the Hebrew slaves remaining in Goshen.
Rekhmire, the vizier to Thutmose III, left behind splendid wall paintings in his tomb in which scenes of the making of bricks and other tasks are being carried out, similar to the scene in Exodus 5:6–19. Found among the figures in the paintings are Semitic foreigners engaged in brick-making, with the hyroglyphic text having them say “He supplies us with bread, beer, and every good thing,” while they get a stern warning from the task-masters: "The rod is in my hand; be not idle!
Is There Any Proof that Joseph Existed?
Joseph was elevated to regal dignity in Egypt under Apepi II, last of the Hyksos Pharaohs. Joseph was of the same race as the Pharaoh. More importantly, the High Priests in Egypt were always Princes and so we have Potiphera, Prince or Priest of On, a Semitic office under the Hyksos. His daughter, Asenath, was given in marriage to Joseph, and became the mother of Ephraim and Manasseh. It is commonly believed that Asenath was an Egyptian. This is not so. The name Asenath is of Hebrew origin.
But is there any evidence that Joseph existed? The main canal that links Lake Moeris in the Faiyum with the Nile, and ensures the fertility of the oasis, is the Bahr Yusuf, the "Canal of Joseph"; for the Arabs believe that the ancient reservoir of Pharaonic times was the work of the Biblical Joseph, in Arab legend the " Grand Vizier " of Pharaoh.
Near Lake Moeris the King had a great "Labyrinth" built. It was an immense structure spreading over many acres. It served as general headquarters for the government and as a center of administration for the distribution of government provisions -- the 20% that was collected during the years of plenty to be used in the years of famine.
What about the record of a FAMINE for 7 long years? From a Third Dynasty text in the reign of King Zoser, the builder of the famous step pyramid, we read, "My heart is in great anxiety, for in my time the Nile has not overflowed for a period of SEVEN YEARS. There is scarcely any produce of the field; herbage fails; eatables are wanting. Every man robs his neighbor ... the children cry, the young people creep along ... the people of the courts are at their wits' end. The store-houses were built, but ... all that was in them has been consumed," he laments (from Barton's "Archaeology and the Bible", pp. 370-371). Compare this with Genesis 41:29-32 and 47:13-27.
How Many Israelites Entered Egypt?
Genesis 46:26-27 and Acts 7:14 give three different totals for the number of people entering Egypt. Did Stephen contradict Moses regarding the number of people who moved to Egypt? Stephen referred to the number of Jacob’s family members that moved down to Egypt as 75 (Acts 7:14). Yet in Genesis 46:27, Moses recorded the number as 70. Critics of the Bible claim to have found a discrepancy. If they would have only studied the matter a little more closely, they would have seen that Moses and Stephen were simply approaching the matter from different perspectives. Genesis 46:26 numbers Jacob’s children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren as 66. To that number, which does not include Jacob’s son’s wives, Moses added Jacob, Joseph, and Joseph’s two sons to arrive at the number 70. Stephen, on the other hand, did not include Joseph and his wife and two sons since they were already in Egypt and Joseph is mentioned as sending for Jacob and the relatives from Egypt. Stephen names Jacob separately from the 75 relatives. Thus Stephen’s number includes the 66 mentioned in Genesis 46:26 plus the nine wives of Jacob’s sons (Judah’s and Simeon’s wives being already deceased). The Bible harmonizes perfectly and there is no discrepancy.
How Do We Count 400 Years?
Gen. 15:13:The sojourning of Abraham's descendants (from the call of their ancestor) was 400 years (including Abraham's own sojourning: Heb 11:8,9). From call of Abraham to birth of Isaac = 25 years (Gen 12:4; 21:5). Isaac at 5 years was mocked by Ishmael (Gen 21:8,9). Affliction begins, and 400 years begin (Gal 4:29). Thus 430 - 30 = 400 years sojourning of Abraham's seed: cp Exo 12:40; Act 7:6; Gal 3 :16,17. (The 400-year affliction of Abraham's seed begins in Gen. 21:8: cp Gen 15:13n; Gal 4:24. Ages: Ishmael 18 or 19, Isaac 5. See Gen 13:5).
Do We Find Bricks of Clay Without Straw?
The bricks of Pithom in Egypt found by Naville (1883) and Kyle (1908) confirm Ex. 5:7-18. The lower courses of bricks found at Pithom, are filled with good chopped straw; the middle courses with less straw, and that was stubble plucked up by the root; and the upper courses of brick were of pure clay, having no straw whatsoever. On Rekhmire's tomb the brickmakers are depicted. The taskmasters warn the laborers, "The rod is in my hand; be not idle" (J.H. Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt 2:758).
Who Was The Pharaoh Of The Exodus?
Diodorus Siculus (1st cent. B.C.), gave evidence for the truth of the Bible’s Exodus account. Of the Hebrews, he said, “Their forefathers had been banished out of the whole of Egypt... in order to purify the land.” (The History Of Antiquity, p.458) There was some truth to this assertion, after Egypt had endured the horrible swarms of insects and pestilential diseases of the ten plagues! Early Greek geographer and historian, Strabo (born 63 B.C.), also lent support to the Biblical account, saying, “Moses told them and taught that the Egyptians were not right in representing the divinity as a wild or domesticated animal, nor the Libyans, nor were the Hellenes wise in giving gods the form of men. For only the One was God which surrounds us all... By such doctrines Moses convinced not a few men of reason, and led them to the place where Jerusalem now is.” (ibid., p. 459)
Most modern scholars think the Pharaoh of the Exodus was Raamses II making the Exodus occur about 1270 B.C. This is because Exodus 1:11 mentions a city built by Israelites called "Raamses" and the assumption is that he had to reign before they built a city named after him. But it could have been a later revision by Samuel. Genesis 47:11 says, "in the land of Rameses" which represents another later revision. The same is true of the other city named "Pithom" or "the abode of Thom" -- the King Thom who reigned 600 years later.
However, 1 Kings 6:1 declares that it was 480 years before the fourth year of Solomon's reign (which was about 966 B.C.). This would place the Exodus around 1446 B.C. This fits also with Judges 11:26 which affirms that Israel spent 300 years in the land up to the time of Jepthah (which was about 1000 B.C.). Likewise Acts 13:20 speaks of there being 450 years of judges from Moses to Samuel who lived around 1000 B.C. The same is true of the 430 years mentioned in Galatians 3:17 spanning from around 1800 to 1450 B.C. (from Jacob to Moses). The same figure is used in Exodus 12:40. All of these passages provide a 1446 B.C. date, not a 1270 B.C. date. If we accept the traditional account of the reigns of the Pharaohs, the Pharaoh of the Exodus was Amenhotep II who reigned from about 1450 to 1425 B.C.
Syncellus preserves the record that in the fourth year of Apophis I, Joseph came as a slave into Egypt. During the 17th century, B.C. Egypt was ruled by the Hyksos. These Semitic intruders, according to archaeological evidence, introduced the horse and chariot into Egypt, which are mentioned in the Bible for the first time in the story of Joseph (Gen. 47:17; 41:43). Joseph, a Semite, would be on friendly terms with another Semite as a number two man serving this Hyksos king. The "new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph" (Ex. 1:8) was Pharaoh Ahmose (1570-1546 B.C.), who began dynasty 18, who liberated it from the Hyksos. Hebrew hardships came during the rule of Amenhotep I (1546-1525 B.C.) or Thutmose I (1525-1508 B.C.) as the Egyptians remembered Hebrew friendship with the Hyksos. Now Moses was born "fourscore" years before the Exodus (Ex.7:7) or 1526 B.C. He was raised by "the daughter of Pharaoh" (Ex.2:5), who was known as "Queen Hatshepsut" who married her brother named Thutmose II. But when Hatshepsut couldn't produce a male heir to the throne, her brother/husband chose a non-royal mistress named Isis to produce a male heir and named their son Thutmose III. Hatshepsut raised the boy as her own son even though Isis was his real birth mother. She was the daughter of Pharaoh Thutmose I, the grand son-in-law of Ahmose. Moses fled from Thutmose III (c.1482-1450 B.C.), the pharaoh of the oppression (Ex. 2:23), who had been pushed aside by his aunt and step-mother Hatshepsut. Once pharaoh, he organized military campaigns and fought the enemies of the Hyksos who had settled in Canaan. After his famous battle of Megiddo in Canaan in 1479 B.C., he installed district governors in garrison cities throughout Canaan. Amenhotep II (c.1450-1425 B.C.) was the arrogant and haughty pharaoh of the Exodus (Ex.7). The suffix "MOSE" means "SON" (p.115, Keller's Bible As History) in Egyptian. Significantly, the suffix "Mose" is found (and exclusively so) in the names of many pharaoh's of the 18th dynasty, such as Ka-mose ("son of [Ra's] majesty"), Thutmose and Ahmose were sons of Thut (scribal god) and Ah (moon god). But nobody knew who the father of MOSE was, so he was just called MOSES. Or perhaps Moses' name had a prefix like the others (Hatshepsutmose) but Moses "refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter" (Heb.11:24). According to other ancient sources, the name Moses comes from the Egyptian mo (water) and uses (drawn from) (Ant. 2:9:6) (Contra Apion 1:31) (Philo De Vitga Moses 2:17).
Once again, the pharaoh who refused to allow the Hebrews to leave was Amenhotep II, who reigned c. 1450–1425 B.C. He was the son of the empire builder and conqueror Thutmose III, and Amenhotep lived off his father’s largesse. It is also clear from Egyptian inscriptions that the son who succeeded him to the throne, Thutmose IV (1425-1412 B.C.), was not his first born, not the legal heir to the throne (The eldest son was killed in the tenth plague -- Ex.12:29); this was indicated by the inscription on an immense slab of red granite near the sphinx at Gizeh known as the Dream Stele at the foot of the Great Sphinx which states that while yet a youth the future Pharaoh had fallen asleep under the famous monument and dreamed. In his dream the god Amun promised to give him the throne if he cleared away the sand from the feet of the Sphinx and restore it:
“One of those days it came to pass that the king’s son, Thutmose, came, coursing at the time of midday, and he rested in the shadow of this great god. A vision of sleep seized him at the hour (when) the sun was in the zenith, and he found the majesty of this revered god speaking with his own mouth, as a father speaks with his son, saying:”Behold thou me! See thou me! My son Thutmose. I am thy father, Harmakhis-Khepri-Re-Atum, who will give to thee my kingdom on earth at the head of the living. Thou shalt wear the white crown and the red crown upon the throne of Keb, the hereditary prince. The land shall be thine in its length and breadth, that which the eye of the All-Lord shines upon. The food of the Two Lands shall be thine, the great tribute of all countries, the duration of a long period of years."
A BLACK GRANITE SHRINE found at EL-ARISH on the border of Egypt and Palestine bears a long inscription in hieroglyphics. It says, "The land was in great affliction. Evil fell on this earth.... Nobody could leave the palace during nine days, and during these NINE DAYS of upheaval there was such a tempest that neither men nor gods (royalty) could SEE the faces of those beside them." Exodus 10:22 mentions a "THICK DARKNESS" for "THREE DAYS," so perhaps there was a thin darkness for six days after the first three. Then, after a hurricane, the pharaoh chases after the "evil-doers" to "the place called "PI-KHIROTI" which agrees with Exodus 14:9 where we read that "the Egyptians pursued after them ... and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside PI-HAHIROTH." Then the near death of the pharaoh is described: "His Majesty leapt into the place of the whirlpool" (cp. Ex.15:19). He was "lifted by a great force."
The AMARNA TABLETS, (c.1400-1366 B.C.) , written to Amenhotep III and IV, urging help from Pharaoh, mention upheaval caused by the "Habiru" (Hebrews) and prove that Egypt was very weak at the time when the "Habiru" were taking over Palestine (Joshua's conquest). John Bimson and David Livingston have proposed a revision of the traditional dating of the end of the Middle Bronze Age and the beginning of the Late Bronze Age from 1550 to shortly before 1400 B.C. The Middle Bronze Age was characterized by large fortified cities, a description which fits well with the account which the spies brought back to Moses (Deut. 1:28). This would mean that a conquest of Canaan that took place about 1406 B.C., allowing for 40 years of wandering in the desert, would be in complete agreement with their revised dating. "The Habiri are capturing our fortresses; they are taking our cities; they are destroying our rulers. They are plundering all the country of the king. May the king send soldiers quickly. If no troops come this year the whole country is lost to the king."
The IPUWER PAPYRUS was discovered in Memphis Egypt and is dated around the time of the 19th dynasty (The Exodus occurred at the end of the 18th dynasty in 1446 B.C.). Translated by A.H. Gardiner in 1909 from a Hieratic papyrus now in Leiden, Netherlands, it describes the disasters which struck Egypt: "Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere.(1) The river is blood. (2) Forsooth, that has perished which yesterday was seen. The land is left over to its weariness like the cutting of flax. (3) Lower Egypt weeps ... The entire palace is without its revenues. To it belong (by right) wheat and barley, geese and fish. (4) Forsooth, grain has perished on every side. (5) The land -- to its whole extent confusion and terrible noise ... for nine days there was no exit from the palace and no one could see the face of his fellow ... Towns were destroyed by mighty tides ... Upper Egypt suffered devastation ... blood everywhere ... pestilence throughout the country ... No one really sails north to Byblos today. What shall we do for cedar for our mummies?... Gold is lacking ... (6) Men shrink from tasting -- human beings, and thirst after water. (7) That is our water! That is our happiness! What shall we do in respect thereof? All is ruin!(8) The towns are destroyed. Upper Egypt has become dry. (9) The residence is overturned in a minute. (10)